Man City’s European ban appeal could see Liverpool in trouble over hacking saga

Manchester City’s appeal over their two-year European ban could drag Liverpool into the mire, according to reports.

The Premier League champions were slapped with the suspension and £25million fine for violating Financial Fair Play rules.

But the club insists they will “leave nothing off the table” in their quest to have the UEFA ban overturned.

In doing so, they may reopen allegations against Liverpool over the hacking of their scouting database in 2013.

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City are be paying QC David Pannick a rumoured £20k a day to help fight their cause to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and are set to uncover more evidence.

And the European champions could be in hot water after their sporting director and two of the club's scouts who had joined from City were accused of leaking information.

A complain led to the Reds forking out a £1m compensation package, while both clubs signed a confidentiality agreement.

The saga resurfaced last September but the Football Association decided not to take matters further due to the “age of the alleged concerns”.

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A statement read: “The FA has carefully considered the evidence it received in this matter, including information provided by both clubs involved, and has decided not to progress the investigation.

“This is due to a number of factors including the age of the alleged concerns and the settlement agreed by the two clubs involved.

“As per standard protocol, should The FA receive further information or evidence, the decision not to progress the investigation may be reviewed.”

And City may be willing to provide new evidence as they make their case to have their European ban revoked.

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They will claim that the evidence against them is based on emails which were illegally obtained and taken out of context.

City's legal team also includes representatives from Freshfields, Bruckhaus Deringer, Pinsent Masons, and Monkton Chambers.

If the case is taken to Swiss Federal Court, they will also have Kellerhals Carrard on side.

City are expected to fight hard as they are reportedly unwilling to accept any financial sanction this time around after being fined £49m for violations in 2014.

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